I can’t believe this will be over next Saturday when we announce the winner. Thank you to our creative contestants for working so hard to give some of the saddest looking items a whole new life. Well done! A big thank you to everyone who sewed along with us, there were some big surprises there, too! And thanks goes to everyone who voted, commented and supported this fun competition. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

Ok, now on to the final challenge:

The Summer Dress.

Please remember to vote for your favorite using the poll at the bottom of this post. Voting will be open until Friday, July 5. Your public votes and the competitor’s score of each other will be combined to determine a winner. We will announce the winner of this week’s challenge next Saturday. Everyone will go home with some great prizes. Remember, this is a “Friendly Sewing Competition”. :)

“I found this week’s project in my grandmother’s barn last summer. It was a torn and
tattered pink (my least favorite color) vintage table cloth. It was faded, wrinkled,
and had a weird smell, but I HAD to have it. My grandmother looked at me like I was
nuts, but said it was mine if I wanted it. After taking it home and carefully
laundering it, I folded it neatly and placed it in a drawer where it sat for nearly
a year.

and after:

I’ve seen a lot of coral maxi dresses lately, and I decided my granny’s fugly pink
table cloth would make a lovely dress. Working around the tears was a little tricky,
but in the end it was well worth it! The detachable ruffle makes the dress versatile
and unique. You can wear it on the shoulders, off the shoulders, over one shoulder,
with a belt, without a belt, without the ruffle, etc. Definitely a new summer
favorite.

I’m really pleased with how the dress turned out. It’s an awfully long way away from
the smelly barn relic it was!”

“Anyone who has looked at my blog probably knows dress are my favorite thing
to wear. I took to a local thrift shop to find a dress to refashion for
this project and I came across this Coldwater Creek dress (with the tags
STILL on it – $69.99 – I got it for $3.99!). I’ll admit, I usually play it
safe with dresses I refashion (choosing ones that are somewhat close to my
size), so at a size 18 this would be the biggest refashion I have ever
tackled.

and after:

I took it in in the back and on the sides, added darts to the bust
and hemmed it. It was cute – but still kind of plain. So I dug up a skirt I
wanted to refashion and cut the bottom off of it. I used the fabric from
the skirt to cover the buttons, and add trim to the bottom. The dress still
didn’t scream summer, so I added a cute heart cutout in the back and also
lined it with the floral fabric from the skirt!

So sad this is the last week :/ Thanks so much for doing this, it’s made my
June a really fun month!!”

“I bought this dress when I fell in love with the stripes! It has navy, white and
mint green stripes, and the weave of the fabric also has an irregular shiny pattern
in it, it’s beautiful. All that was required to make it wearable were a few tweaks
including removing the elastic waist and the sleeves and cutting off 30cm of the
length. I had to cut all the way up the middle to overlap the front left and front
right more, so I could get rid of the modesty panel.

I was aiming for ‘Garden Party
Chic’ with this one, and I think the result is smart but relaxed enough for day
wear. Sadly the London weather is just not co-operating at the moment!”- Sally

“I am not much for frilly, fussy, summer dresses but I have been admiring all of the
great maxi dresses out there and dying to have one myself. Enter this lovely
(cough, sputter) rectangle from “Goodwill” for the bargain price of $7.99.
That is expensive by thrift shop standards, but this is L.A. and there aren’t any
breaks here :( No matter, I could see the finished piece in my mind !

This dress required a lot more sewing than one might think. Cutting it in
two pieces, making a waistband, and bottom, belt loops, new zippper…Whew!

Here is a close up of the removeable belt bling I created with my bead
collection. I used a lobster clasp to make it come on and off the belt when I
choose”-Mary

Wow! This is going to be another hard week to choose a favorite. Please use the poll below to cast your vote for your favorite refashion this week.

Please send your scores to me by Wednesday, July 3. Please score each other on a scale of 1-10 on each of the following areas: Following the challenge, originality, craftsmanship, design and presentation.

If you sewed along with us this week, send before and after photos of your summer dress to me at bhunting@eoni.com.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

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About The Renegade Seamstress

I'm a busy wife, mom, grandma, and teacher who loves to create. I've joined the refashion scene and I 'd like to share and connect with all those talented and creative people out there doing similar things.

once again a great line up, but the most amazing change was scrungy tablecloth to multi way dress. Too Cool!
Have lagged behind in my sewalong efforts, but I’ll put them up soon. Great job everyone – can’t wait to see who wins.